Brazil’s pay-TV market reached 16.2m subscribers in 2012

According to data published by Brazil’s telecoms regulator Asociacion Nacional de Telecomunicaciones (Anatel), the country’s pay-TV sector totalled 16.2 million subscribers at 31 December 2012, thanks to net additions of 3.44 million new users in the year. Brazil’s enthusiasm for pay-TV continues unabated: the total for end-August 2012 was 15.1 million subscribers – up 319,500 in a month, and 30% higher than at the same point in 2011.

In terms of access platforms, the most popular technology being used is DTH, which accounted for 60.80% of the total subscriber base, while cable-based connections were taken by 38.29% of customers (a small decrease compared to November 2012). Meanwhile, multichannel multipoint distribution service (MMDS), or wireless cable as it is also known, is rapidly declining as a preferred technology option, and by end-December 2012 had only 142,113 subscribers nationwide. At the same date, Anatel reports that Net Servicos/Embratel had a total of 8.495 million pay-TV customers, up 1.497 million year-on-year, ahead of Sky (DirecTV) in second place with 5.039 million (+1.242 million). Oi SA took third spot with 748,758 subscribers – a net gain of 397,575 in one year – while Telefonica (Vivo) and Global Village Telecom (GVT) took the minor rankings with 594,907 and 425,635 pay-TV subscribers respectively.